{"id":17655,"date":"2026-02-02T06:46:29","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T06:46:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/?p=17655"},"modified":"2026-02-02T06:46:29","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T06:46:29","slug":"world-relief-slams-policy-re-interviewing-biden-era-refugees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/?p=17655","title":{"rendered":"World Relief slams policy re-interviewing Biden-era refugees"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/> By  Ryan Foley<span class=\"quiet\">, Christian Post Reporter Friday, January 30, 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Quick Summary<\/h2>\n<p>AI Summary<\/p>\n<ul class=\"ul\">\n<li>World Relief demands Trump end the policy of reviewing refugees admitted during the Biden administration.<\/li>\n<li>CEO Myal Greene defends existing vetting processes as sufficient, warns of unnecessary trauma for refugees.<\/li>\n<li>More than 10,000 Christians join Greene in calling for halting the new policy, rebuffing security concerns.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"summary-disclosure\">An artificial intelligence-powered tool created this summary based on the source article. The summary has undergone review and verification by an editor.<\/p>\n<p>See <span\/> Summary<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"photo-des\">Afghan refugees take an educational class at Ft. McCoy U.S. Army base on Sept. 30, 2021, in Ft. McCoy, Wisconsin. There are approximately 12,600 Afghan refugees being cared for at the base under Operation Allies Welcome. <\/span> | <span class=\"credit\">Barbara Davidson\/Getty Images<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The head of World Relief, a refugee resettlement organization, is calling on the Trump administration to reverse its policy of reviewing the cases of refugees admitted into the United States during the Biden administration, a policy a federal judge temporarily blocked this week.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In an interview with The Christian Post, World Relief CEO Myal Greene defended the vetting process and highlighted the biblical mandate to care for strangers, lamenting Trump&#8217;s actions of reviewing and potentially re-interviewing some refugees as a \u201csystematic effort\u201d to undermine the refugee resettlement program.<\/p>\n<p>Greene has called on the Trump administration to withdraw its policy, which was implemented by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and detailed in an internal memo. The policy requires all refugees admitted into the U.S. during the Biden administration to undergo a review and a potential re-interview \u201cto determine that they met the refugee definition\u201d under federal law.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The memo warned that during the Biden administration, the federal government \u201cpotentially prioritized expediency, quantity, and admissions over quality interviews and detailed screening and vetting.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Greene told CP he views the new policy as part of \u201ca broader attempt to undermine the resettlement program and the work of the resettlement program.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI truly believe that this is part of a larger systematic effort of the government to revoke legal status from immigrants who have entered the country legally, are here under humanitarian \u2026 protections and had legal status when President Trump took office,\u201d he maintained. \u201cAnd I think that those are immigration policies which are less about safety and security and more about where immigrants have come from.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Greene also cited the efforts to revoke Temporary Protected Status from immigrants who were shielded from deportation as their home country dealt with natural disasters or other conflicts as another example of the \u201csystematic efforts to revoke legal status from immigrants.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Trump administration has countered that claim, asserting that TPS has been abused and that many beneficiaries remained in the U.S. indefinitely even after conditions improved in their home countries.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge John Tunheim, a Clinton appointee, issued a preliminary injunction halting the review of refugees awaiting green cards. He asserted that federal agents may have violated the law by arresting refugees already admitted to the country for additional vetting.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;These refugees have undergone rigorous background checks and vetting, been<br \/>approved by multiple federal agencies for entry, been given permission to work, received<br \/>support from the government, and been resettled in the United States,&#8221; Tunheim wrote. &#8220;None have been deemed a danger to the community or a flight risk. None have been charged with any ground for removal.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Maintaining that any additional review of refugees is unnecessary, Greene defended the existing vetting process as sufficient: \u201cInitially, the refugees are screened by the United Nations related to the merits of their case. They\u2019re again screened by the U.S. government to determine if they qualify as a refugee. And then they\u2019re also screened on a security basis by the U.S. government to ensure that they\u2019re not a threat to the United States when they come.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Greene rebuffed concerns raised about refugee screenings that emerged following the shooting of two National Guard members just before Thanksgiving last year at the hands of an Afghan national who entered the U.S. in 2021 following the Biden administration&#8217;s withdrawal from Afghanistan. National Guardswoman Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom died from her injuries in that ambush in Washington, D.C., and Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, was critically injured and is continuing his recovery.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Greene said the Trump administration is \u201ctrying to take an isolated incident and use it to condemn a whole group of people and then subsequently are not actually proposing security screening.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;They\u2019re proposing screening based on refugee status,&#8221; he added. &#8220;In fact, if there are concerns about the background or security checks, there\u2019s already existing methods to do that and opportunities to make those more clear.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Greene also raised concerns about obstacles that might arise if refugees are required to undergo re-interviews, noting that they \u201cmay not have the same records and materials preserved that they had when they first proved, demonstrated and established that they had proved their refugee status\u201d because it \u201cwas assumed that that was complete and they may not have saved some of those materials, for whatever reason.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re inserting an unnecessary screening process into something that has the risk of reactivating trauma and causing uncertainty for individuals here. And so, you have people who went through a traumatic event, which is the reason why they\u2019re refugees to begin with, and that was fully vetted and determined. They\u2019ve come to the United States, begun to reestablish their lives here with hopes of a long-term security,\u201d he stressed.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Greene characterized the additional screening of refugees as \u201csaying to people who were not welcome in their home country, likely were not welcome in a neighboring country,\u201d that they \u201cmight not be welcome here.\u201d He lamented that it will cause \u201cpeople to relive their trauma and create uncertainty for them and their families.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Greene estimated that \u201ctens of thousands of individuals \u2026 that have been resettled and served by World Relief\u201d could be impacted by the new policy.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In a letter to Trump, White House Border Czar Tom Homan and several congressional leaders on Tuesday, Greene joined more than 10,000 other Christians from across all 50 states calling for the cessation of the new initiative.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs followers of Jesus, our faith compels us to care for our refugee neighbors and to value their safety and flourishing as we value our own,\u201d the letter stated. \u201cWe are deeply concerned that this drastic and unprecedented action will have unnecessary consequences for neighbors we have come to know and love.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Describing refugees as \u201camong the most thoroughly vetted individuals admitted lawfully to the United States\u201d who are \u201cscreened both to confirm the persecution they\u2019ve endured and to ensure they pose no security risk,\u201d the letter defined caring for refugees as consistent with the commands of the Bible. It specifically highlighted Jesus\u2019 call to care for \u201cthe least of these\u201d as laid out in Matthew 25:31-46 and the command to do \u201cno wrong to a neighbor\u201d in Romans 13:10.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe believe our nation has a moral obligation to offer refuge and to ensure those who arrive are embraced and welcomed,\u201d the letter added. \u201cRefugee resettlement should not be a partisan issue. It is grounded in a bipartisan law carefully implemented by administrations of both parties for decades. While it is reasonable to reexamine an individual case if credible concerns arise, forcing all refugees resettled during this period to undergo new scrutiny is unnecessary and cruel.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Warning that \u201cthis dramatic, blunt policy change impacts people whom many of us know as friends and neighbors,\u201d the letter expressed concern that it \u201creignites unnecessary fear that they could once again lose the safety they\u2019ve found in the United States, particularly as many other lawfully-present immigrants have recently had their legal protections in the United States withdrawn.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The letter also identified the policy change as being at odds with \u201cPresident Trump\u2019s stated commitment to stand with and protect persecuted Christians and others fleeing religious persecution.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In addition to decrying the new policy, the letter urged the Trump administration to \u201creconsider the recently-set, historically-low ceiling for Fiscal Year 2026 refugee admissions of just 7,500, with a narrow focus on just one population group that would exclude those persecuted on account of their faith and fleeing some of the world\u2019s greatest crises.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Greene shared additional concerns about the Trump administration\u2019s immigration policies in a statement announcing the publication of the letter Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs a nation, we are at an inflection point in the aftermath of tragedy in the streets of Minneapolis,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow we treat \u2018the least of these\u2019 is a symptom of the health of the character of our nation. The behavior demonstrated by enforcement agents towards immigrants and U.S. citizens alike over the past weeks and days demonstrates deep sickness,\u201d Greene proclaimed. \u201cBorder Czar Homan and the administration have the opportunity to restore order and rehabilitate the trust that every resident should be able to place in law enforcement, but the work to repair is steep.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Greene\u2019s comments refer to the shooting deaths of anti-ICE protesters Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, Minnesota, this month that have exacerbated tensions over Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in the state. Minnesota has been the focus of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security\u2019s efforts to re-examine refugees admitted to the U.S. during the Biden administration.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In a statement published earlier this month, DHS announced the launch of Operation PARRIS in Minnesota, which it characterizes as \u201ca sweeping initiative reexamining thousands of refugee cases through new background checks and intensive verification of refugee claims.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to DHS, \u201cThe initial focus is on Minnesota\u2019s 5,600 refugees who have not yet been given lawful permanent resident status (Green Cards). USCIS\u2019 newly established vetting center is leading Operation PARRIS (Post-Admission Refugee Reverification and Integrity Strengthening).\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In his statement published Tuesday, Greene called on the Trump administration to immediately halt Operation PARRIS and asked \u201cCongressional leaders to include oversight into treatment of refugees in DHS appropriations funding.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Ryan Foley, Christian Post Reporter Friday, January 30, 2026 Quick Summary AI Summary World Relief demands Trump end the policy of reviewing refugees admitted during the Biden administration. CEO Myal Greene defends existing vetting processes as sufficient, warns of unnecessary trauma for refugees. More than 10,000 Christians join Greene in calling for halting the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17656,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[4244,1169,1132,5631,4463,780,300],"class_list":{"0":"post-17655","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-christian-living","8":"tag-bidenera","9":"tag-policy","10":"tag-refugees","11":"tag-reinterviewing","12":"tag-relief","13":"tag-slams","14":"tag-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17655"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17655\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}